Assessment of Opportunities for Alternative Uses of Hydrocarbon Infrastructure in
the Gulf of Mexico

Mark Kaiser and Allan Pulsipher. Funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Minerals
Management Service, and the LSU Coastal Marine Institute. Project Funding: $185,527.

This project is to examine four (4) alternative uses of offshore structures in the
Gulf of Mexico Region: artificial reefs, wind power, mariculture, and geologic sequestration/enhanced
recovery. It will also consolidate, review, and synthesize the economic, environmental,
political, technical, socioeconomic, and regulatory issues that frame each alternative.
More specifically, the study will include the following tasks: (1) the legal framework
governing the development and regulation of alternative OCS projects will be reviewed,
(2) the Louisiana and Texas Artificial Reef Programs will be reviewed, (3) a literature
review of offshore wind, mariculture, and geologic sequestration will be conducted
and synthesized, (4) the challenges, opportunities, and risks of deployment of each
alternative will be described and evaluated, and (5) business and general cost-benefit
models will be developed for each alternative to illustrate the decision and economic
processes involved.